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ROME — An amnesty may be suitable for clubs named in a match-fixing scandal so as not to punish players from the national team who have reached the World Cup final against France, Italy's justice minister suggested in a published report Friday.

"The government cannot get involved in this issue," the justice minister, Clemente Mastella, told Corriere della Sera. "But I do think the majority of fans want an amnesty."

There have been several calls for an amnesty for the four clubs named in the scandal: Juventus, Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina. Earlier this week, Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri called such a proposal "idiocy."

Juventus, champion of Serie A, faces possible relegation to Serie C. Eight of its players are on the squads playing in the final Sunday, including Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Del Piero and three others for Italy.

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The prosecutor at a sports tribunal hearing the charges in Rome has asked that Juventus be stripped of the Serie A titles it won in the past two seasons and relegated to Serie C, with the other three relegated to Serie B. All four teams would have points deducted at the start of next season.

Cesare Zaccone, a lawyer for Juventus, told the hearing on Wednesday that if his clients were found guilty, "an acceptable punishment could be that of the other clubs, in other words, the Second Division with points deducted."

The other three clubs insisted at the trial Thursday that all charges against them should be thrown out, distancing themselves from Juventus. The lawyers said the clubs had no case to answer at the trial.

"We at Lazio are innocent," a Lazio lawyer, Gian Michele Gentile, said. "We don't have anything to admit. Obviously Juventus's lawyers have decided it was better to do it like that. But we at Lazio do not have anything to hide."